Most U.S. businesses closing Black Friday

CHICAGO, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- About 70 percent of U.S. companies will be closed Friday, giving workers the chance to shop, watch football or just recover from Thanksgiving feasts.

Chicago's Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an outplacement consulting firm, said Monday in a news release that 15 percent of the companies surveyed plan to be open for business on Friday. Those most likely to be working are bank tellers, restaurant workers, hospital employees, police and other emergency workers and those working in retail.

Among the remaining 15 percent of survey respondents, 6 percent will be short staffed due to employees taking leave and 3 percent will have a short day, and 5 percent said that they have multiple locations with different plans at each.

"Providing an extra day off is a great way to build positive employee morale. Additionally, it makes sense for most offices to close since the day after Thanksgiving is historically a very slow day for traditional business. Of course, the same cannot be said for retail, which sees one of its busiest days of the year," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.